Echium

Echium /ˈɛkiəm/^[2] is a genus of flowering plants in the family Boraginaceae that contains about 70 species and several subspecies.

Echium
Echium vulgare
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Boraginales
Family:	Boraginaceae
Subfamily:	Boraginoideae
Genus:	Echium Tourn. ex L. (1753)
Type species
Echium vulgare
Species[1]
68; see text
Synonyms[1]
Argyrexias Raf. (1838) Echion St.-Lag. (1880), orth. var. Isoplesion Raf. (1838) Larephes Raf. (1838)

Echium auberianum

Echium candicans ('Pride of Madeira')

Echium judaeum

Echium horridum

Echium rauwolfii

Flowers of Echium hierrense, a species native to El Hierro.

Echium angustifolium in Cyprus

Species of Echium are native to North Africa, mainland Europe to Central Asia, and the Macaronesian islands where the genus reaches its maximum diversity. Twenty-nine species of Echium are endemic to the Canary, Madeira, and Cape Verde archipelagos.^[3] The continental species are herbaceous, whereas many of the endemic species of the Macaronesian islands are woody perennial shrubs.^[4]

Etymology

The Latin genus name Echium comes from the Greek ἔχιον echion, referring to Echium plantagineum^[5] and itself deriving from ἔχις echis (viper); the Greek term dates to Dioscorides, who noted a resemblance between the shape of the nutlets and a viper's head.^[6] The genus Echium was published by Carl Linnaeus in 1753.

Cultivation and uses

Many species are used as ornamental and garden plants and may be found in suitable climates throughout the world.^[1] In Crete, Echium italicum is called pateroi (πάτεροι) or voidoglosses (βοϊδόγλωσσες) and its tender shoots are eaten boiled or steamed.^[7]

Echium species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Coleophora onosmella and orange swift.

In some countries Echium extract has been used as cure for various diseases and is believed to have beneficial properties.

Echium seed oil

The seed oil from E. plantagineum contains high levels of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), gamma-linolenic acid, and stearidonic acid, making it valuable in cosmetic and skin-care applications, with further potential as a functional food, as an alternative to fish oils.^[8] However, despite its high ALA content, Echium seed oil does not increase docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid levels.^[9]

Invasiveness

Some species have been widely naturalized in Mediterranean climates, including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of South America and the United States. For example, Echium plantagineum has become a major invasive species in Australia.^[10]

Species

68 species are accepted.^[1]

1. Echium acanthocarpum Svent.
2. Echium aculeatum Poir.
3. Echium albicans Lag. & Rodr.
4. Echium amoenum Fisch. & C.A.Mey
5. Echium anchusoides Bacch., Brullo & Selvi
6. Echium angustifolium Lam.
7. Echium arenarium Guss.
8. Echium asperrimum Lam.
9. Echium auberianum Webb & Berthel.
10. Echium × bailaderense A.A.Weller
11. Echium bethencourtii A.Santos
12. Echium boissieri Steud.
13. Echium × bond-spraguei Sprague & Hutch.
14. Echium bonnetii Coincy
15. Echium brevirame Sprague & Hutch.
16. Echium callithyrsum Webb ex Bolle
17. Echium candicans L.f.
18. Echium canum Emb. & Maire
19. Echium clandestinum Pomel
20. Echium creticum L.
21. Echium decaisnei Webb & Berthel.
22. Echium flavum Desf.
23. Echium gaditanum Boiss.
24. Echium giganteum L.f.
25. Echium glomeratum Poir.
26. Echium handiense Svent.
27. Echium hierrense Webb ex Bolle
28. Echium horridum Batt.
29. Echium humile Desf.
30. Echium hypertropicum Webb
31. Echium italicum L.
32. Echium judaeum Lacaita
33. Echium khuzistanicum Mozaff.
34. Echium × lemsii G.Kunkel
35. Echium leucophaeum (Webb ex Christ) Webb ex Sprague & Hutch.
36. Echium × lidii G.Kunkel
37. Echium longifolium Delile
38. Echium lusitanicum L.
39. Echium modestum Ball
40. Echium montenielluense Delage
41. Echium nervosum W.T.Aiton
42. Echium onosmifolium Webb & Berthel.
43. Echium pabotii Mouterde
44. Echium parviflorum Moench
45. Echium perezii Sprague
46. Echium petiolatum Barratte & Coincy
47. Echium pininana Webb et Berthel.
48. Echium pitardii A.Chev.
49. Echium plantagineum L.
50. Echium portosanctense J.A.Carvalho, Pontes, Bat.-Marques & R.Jardim
51. Echium rauwolfii Delile
52. Echium rosulatum Lange
53. Echium rubrum Forssk.
54. Echium sabulicola Pomel
55. Echium salmanticum Lag.
56. Echium simplex DC.
57. Echium spurium Lojac.
58. Echium stenosiphon Webb
59. Echium strictum L.f.
60. Echium suffruticosum Barratte
61. Echium sventenii Bramwell
62. Echium x taibiquense P.Wolff & Rosinski
63. Echium tenue Roth
64. Echium thyrsiflorum Masson ex Link
65. Echium triste Svent.
66. Echium trygorrhizum Pomel
67. Echium tuberculatum Hoffmanns. & Link
68. Echium velutinum Coincy
69. Echium virescens DC.
70. Echium vulcanorum A.Chev.
71. Echium vulgare L.
72. Echium webbii Coincy
73. Echium wildpretii H.Pearson ex Hook.f.

Formerly placed here

• Megacaryon orientale (L.) Boiss. (as Echium orientale L.)
• Pontechium maculatum (L.) Böhle & Hilger (as Echium maculatum L.)